AARP Foundation Legal Advocacy
Special Report:
THE SUPREME COURT 2009:WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR AMERICANS 50+
A Preview of the 2009 Term
Download the report (pdf, 1.23MB)
This Supreme Court Preview is undertaken as part of the education and advocacy efforts of AARP Foundation and discusses cases that will have significant impact on older people and AARP members, in particular. AARP Foundation attorneys initiate and support litigation protecting the rights of people 50+, and are responsible for carrying out AARP’s judicial advocacy activities, including direct litigation and AARP amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs, focusing on age and disability discrimination in employment; employee benefits; health; long-term care; consumer rights; and issues affecting low-income persons. AARP has filed or will file amicus briefs in most of the cases discussed herein.
News media and others may quote extensively from this publication as long as appropriate attribution is given to AARP. Media inquiries should be directed to Dave Nathan of Media Relations at (202) 434-2560.
AARP Foundation Legal Advocacy
AARP Foundation Litigation is one of the few national organizations that defends and supports the legal rights of older Americans across the United States—assuring that they have a voice in our judicial system.Our legal work encompasses areas of federal and state laws that affect older Americans day-to-day lives including:
- age and disability discrimination in employment
- pensions
- financial fraud including predatory lending
- health and long-term care
- disability and
- government and public benefits
We protect and preserve the rights of older Americans by representing them in important court cases and by writing amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs, which allow AARP to share research, facts, and policy analysis, helping courts make good decisions in precedent setting cases.
Our legal advocacy focuses on widespread practices or policies of industry, business, or government that are unfavorable to Americans over 50. On average, we have 14 attorneys working on over 70 different cases at a time.
Many of our efforts have helped form the core of AARP-wide initiatives. Our legal action in the area of predatory lending has been a key factor in AARP’s efforts to protect homeowners from losing their homes. In 2003, our legal action in the field of prescription drug policies was a key part of AARP’s comprehensive campaign to reduce the costs of prescription pharmaceuticals.
Due to these rising costs, a greater need for prescription drugs, and fixed incomes, many older and uninsured people simply do without much needed medication. AARP Foundation Litigation is working to:
- Support innovative state experiments to expand access to prescription drugs
- Compensate consumers and governments that paid too much as a result of price-gouging,
- Enforce antitrust laws in the pharmaceutical market, and
- Eliminate bottlenecks in the process that brings affordable generic drugs to market.
Please e-mail us at litigation@aarp.org for more information.
